973.7L63 

GBi.i5a 


Bemstcrff,    Johann   von 

Abraham   Lincoln   as   the  Germans 
reo&rded  him. 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


ABRAHM£  LINCOLN  AS  THE  GSRIillllTS 


REGARDED  HIM 


-  ADDRESS  - 

DeliTered  at  Springfield,  111^, 
February  12th,  1913* 


By 
OOimT   J>  BEHHSTORFF 
German  Ambassador  to  the 
Baited  States* 


^o 


Ihen  Goethe  had  attained  a  very 
X     high  age  and  had  reached  the  summit 
-.^^      of  his  fame>  the  wittj  and  sarcastic 
r4      remark  was  once  iiiade  with  regard  to 


him,  that  even  Cicero  would  not  have 
"been*  sufficiently  impudent  to  deliver 
a  panegyric  on  such  a  man*   This  re- 
mark would  seem  to  apply  to  me  if  I 
ventured  to  eulogize  Abraham  Lincoln 
before  a  representative  assembly  of 
Americans,  who  are  much  more  fsimiliar 
with  the  history  of  this  great  hero 
tha.n  I  am*   All  the  more  so  as  I  have 
not  the  least  claim  to  being  a  Gicero 


-1- 


when  I  speak  in  a  language  which  is 
not  siy  own  and  to  the  beauty  of  which 
I  cainnot  do  full  justice*  Ks   you, 
however,  have  honored  me  by  asking  me 
to  speak  at  this  anniversary,  I  will 
venture  to  make  a  few  remarks  on 
Abraham  Lincoln  as  he  appeared  to  the 
Germans  of  his  day  and  of  the  later 
generations.   The  election  of  Lincoln 
In  1860  was  a  product  of  the  movement 
largely  supported  by  the  citizens  of 
German  birth  and  extraction,  that  had 
led  to  the  foundation,  four  years 
previous,  of  a  new  national  party. 


•2- 


Idncoln^s  personality  as  shown  in  his 
honesty  of  piirpose,  the  courage  of  his 
convictions,  and  last  but  not  least* 
"by  his  big  heart,  whose  every  throb 
was  for  the  whole  people,  strongly 
appealed  to  the  German  sentiment* 
At  this  day,  as  we  look  back  to  the 
time  of  Lincoln  anji  recall  the  trials 
with  which  he  was  confronted  and 
which  he  successfully  overcame,  we 
can  realize  what  a  strong  man  he 
was.   He  was  a  born  leader,  in  truth 
the  savior  of  your  country.   Though 
he  must  ctfiti^Ui  have  been  at  the  end   of 
his  resources,  he  always  displayed  an 


-^S- 


inspiring  confidence,  and  in  his  was 
highly  developed  that  rare  characteristic 
of  winning  men  to  his  side.   Such  a  hero 
would  naturally  have  a  strong  attraction 
for  the  American  citizens  of  German  "birth 
of  his  time,  most  of  whom  •  I  need  only 
mention  the  greatest  among  them,  Carl 
Schurz  •  were  so  consumed  with  the 
passion  of  liberty  that  they  came  here 
in  search  of  freedom,  after  the  political 
movement  of  1848  had  failed  to  give  aur 
own  nation  the  unity  and  liberal  insti- 
tutions which  we  now  enjoy.   It  will 
always  be  a  proud  boast  of  the  American 


•  4  • 


citizens  of  German  extraction  that  in 
taeir  ancestors  the  immortal  Lincoln 
had  as  strong  supporters  as  ever  cham- 
pioned the  cause  of  a  leader* 

When  Lincoln  had,  to  use  his  own 
words,  to  accept  war  for  a  worthy  sub- 
Ject,  he  found  the  same  support  on  the 
part  of  the  Americans  of  German  birth. 
During  the  Civil  War  there  were> 
according  to  the  records  of  the  American 
Sanitary  Commission,  187,158  Germans, 
born  in  Germany,  enlisted  in  the 
different  regiments  of  the  northern 
states.   "When  Abraham  Lincoln  called 


-^  5  - 


on  Missouri  for  her  quota  of  soldiers^ 
the  Governor  replied  defiantly,  that 
Missouri  never  would  furnish  soldiers 
to  fight  her  sister  states •   But 
that  Governor  had  overlooked  the  fact 
that  long  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
Rebellion  the  Germans  in  St.  Louis 
and  other  places,  had  drilled  the 
members  of  their  atheletic  clubs  in 
the  manual  of  arms  for  the  defence  of 
the  Union.   Their  strength  and  their 
influence  saved  Missouri  for  the  Union. 
At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  Missouri 
had  contributed  more  soldiers  to  the 


•  6  - 


Uorthern  Ariay  tJian  Massachusetts,  the 
so-called  rock  of  Anti-Slavery ♦   I 
recently  read  with  great  pleasure  the 
vivid  description  which  Mr,  Winston 
Churchill  has  given  of  this  episode 
of  the  Civil  War  in  his  brilliant  novel, 
•^The  Crisis*^. 

In  acting  as  they  did,  these 
Germans  only  showed  the  same  sentiments 
which  were  prevalent  in  their  old 
home.   The  influence  of  such  men  as 
Lieber  and  the  fact  of  a  German  emigra- 
tion to  America  of  a  highly  intellectual 
quality  since  1848  were  circumstances 


-  7  - 


undoubtedly  influential  in  establishing 
in  the  mother  country  sympathy  for  the 
northern  cause.   Andrew  !)•  White,  the 
distinguished  Ambassador  to  Germany  on 
his  visit  to  Europe  at  tkat  time  found 
friends  among  all  classes  of  Germans* 
In  one  of  his  later  public  speeches 
he  saidr   ^Of  one  thing  I  then  and 
always  reminded  m^   hearers  -  namely, 
that  during  our  Civil  ¥ar,  when  our 
national  existence  was  trembling  in 
the  balance  and  our  foreign  friends 
were  few,  the  German  press  and  people 
were  steadily  at  our  side*   Germans 


-  8  - 


everywhere  recognized  the  real  question 
at  issue  in  the  American  struggle. 
Everywhere  on  German  soil  was  a  deep 
detestation  of  human  bondage ♦ 
Frankfort-^on-the-Main  became  a  most 
beneficial  center  of  financial  influ- 
ences, and  from  the  first  to  last 
Germany  stood  firmly  by  us. 

Germany  gave  not  only  her  sjrmpathy, 
but  her  gold,  in  defense  of  the  Union 
and  the  purchase  of  United  States  bonds 
in  the  German  financial  centres  contri- 
buted very  largely  toward  sustaining  the 
Union  in  the  long  struggle  which  the 


-  9  - 


Government  was  forced  to  make  against 
the  powerful  Southern  Confederacy • 

Ihat  the  Ciermans  most  admired  in 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  what  I  believe 
made  him  the  greatest  leader  in  the 
greatest  crisis  of  your  national  life, 
was  that  in  him  '^The  native  hue  of 
resolutions*'  was  not  ♦^sickled  o*er 
with  the  pale  cast  of  thought." 

He  did  not  indulge  in  the  delu- 
sion, that  the  Union  could  be  main- 
tained or  restored  \'?ithout  a  conflict 
of  arms.   Although  he  abhorred  war 
for  any  purpose,  the  firmness  of  his 


-  10  - 


moral  courage  enabled  Mm  to  take  the 
great  responsibility  of  leading  the 
nation  into  a  wax  for  xmion  and  freedom 
and  through  weary  years  of  alternating 
success  and  disaster ♦   He  did  not  waver 
for  a  moment  when  many  anti-eoereion 
meetings  were  held  and  a  cry  for  peace 
at  any  price  arose  on  all  sides.   The 
confidence  he  felt  he  expressed  in  the 
words:   '^Let  us  have  the  faith  that 
right  makes  might  and  in  that  faith 
let  us  to  the  en±  do  our  duty  as  we 
understand  it. *^ 

In  our  days  there  is  a  strong 


--  11  - 


UNIVERSIDf  OF  lUJNtNS 


Peace  movement  sweeping  Qlrer  all  coun- 
tries, and  who  will  deny  that  it  seems 
a  beautiful  idea  to  save  the  world 
forever  from  the  mighty  scourge  of 
war.   On  the  other  hand,  we  must  not 
forget  that  peace  should  never  "be 
bought  at  the  price  of  sacrificing 
our  ideals.   There  is  always  a  danger 
that  we  might  regard  material  pros- 
perity as  our  chief  aim  and  object. 
Svery  man  should  be  ready  to  give  his 
life  for  something  beyond  his  selfish 
interests.   I  have  often  heard  it 
said  at  peace  meetings  that  all  the 


-  12  - 


wars  in  the  course  of  history  could 
have  been  prevented  if  the  leaders 
of  the  nations  had  been  more  filled 
with  the  milk  of  human  kindness  when 
they  approached  the  questions  at 
is sue •   Seldom  has  any  of  the  rulers 
of  men   been  more  kind-hearted  than 
Abraham  Lincoln,   He  hated  to  see 
any  creature  suffer,  and  nevertheless 
he  was  under  the  moral  obligation  to 
decide  for  war  instead  of  peace.   He 
felt  and  said  that:  how  the  question 
of  slavery  was  decided  '*did  not  mean 
much  to  a  man  of  fifty,  but  a  great 


^  13  - 


deal  to  the  posterity  of  the  people 
in  all  coming  time,  because  thought- 
ful men  must  feel  that  the  fate  of 
civilization  in  this  country  was 
involved  in  the  issue  of  the  contest ••* 

The  unity  of  your  nation  could 
not  have  been  maintained  without 
war,  just  as  90  years  before  the 
colonies  could  not  have  gained 
their  independence  without  fight- 
ing. 

The  history  of  my  own  country 
tells  the   safiie   tale*       Religious  free- 
dom in  Germany  would  not  have  been 


-  14  - 


won  if  tlie  nation  had  not  been  ready 
to  sacrifice  its  material  prosperity 
during  the  thirty  years  of  one  of  the 
most  terrible  wars  of  all  history. 
Likewise  the  unity  of  the  German 
nation,  which  had  been  its  constant 
hope  and  ideal  for  nearly  100  years, 
could  never  have  been  restored,  if 
the  people  had  not  been  ready  to 
suffer  the  terrible  ordeal  of  three 
wars  in  1813,  1866,  and  1870,   The 
craving  of  the  soul  of  the  German 
nation  for  unity  is  the  last  but  not 
least  reason  I  should  mention  which 


-  15  -- 


influenced  our  people  in  their  sympathy 
v;ith  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  policy. 
In  those  days  the  United  States 
was  represented  in  Berlin  by  George 
Bancroft,  one  of  your  most  eminent 
historians  and  statesmen..   It  is  a 
great  pleasure  to  read  the  exceedingly 
interesting  letters  he  wrote  from 
Berlin,  the  most  significent  of  which 
have  been  published  not  long  ago. 
Bancroft  brought  a  true  sympathy  and 
understanding  to  the  observation  and 
to  the  direction  of  the  relations  with 
Germany.   His  attitude  assured  him  a 


-.  le  - 


Again  and  again  Bancroft  states  that 
Bismarck  and  the  king  were  true  to 
the  Union  during  the  Civil  War  and 
averse  to  any  recognition  of  the 
independence  of  the  Southern  Confed*- 
eracy,  whenever  such  proposals  were 
put  forward  from  other  quarters*   In 
another  letter  we  hear  that  Mbltke 
said  to  Bancroftr   •*The  Americans  at 
lea-st  are  truly  our  friends  •**   Under 
a  later  date  Bancroft  tells  us  of  a 
dinner  he  gave  the  day  of  the  inaugura- 
tion of  General  Grant  as  President  of  the 
United  States.   Bismarck  was  anaong  the 


-  18  • 


cordial  acceptance  in  Berlin^  he  was 
received  into  the  inner  circles  of 
scholarly  social  and  political  life* 
and  formed  habits  of  friendship  with 
Bismarck  and  Soitlce.   The  political 
situation  of  Europe  Tsas  such  that 
Bancroft  regarded  the  unitarian 
tendencies  in  "both  coiHitries  as 
correlating^   In  one  letter  he  writes 
The  inhabitants  of  Germany  are  tho- 
roughly friendly  to  us»   And  well 
they  may  be*   But  for  the  triumph 
of  the  Union  in  America,  it  could 
not  have  succeeded  in  Germany. 


-  17 


guests  and  held  a  short  speech*   After 
referring  to  the  time  of  Frederick 
the  G-reat,  Bismarck  continued:   ♦•As 
to  the  subsequent  rela^tions  between 
the  two  countries,  it  gives  me  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  be  able  to  state 
as  a  fact  not  only  from  m^   personal 
experience  as  a  minister  of  Prussia, 
but  from  the  archives  of  its  history, 
that  the  cordial  understanding,  so 
happily  inaugurated  by  Washington  and 
Frederick,  has  never  suffered  even 
the  slightest  jar^   Hot  only  has  no 
difficulty  ever  arisen  between  the 


•  19  -- 


two  countries,  nothing  has  ever 
occurred  "between  them  whick  so  much 
as  called  for  an  explanation*  ♦' 

I  will  close  my   address  ?/ith 
the  fervent  wish,  that  such  relations 
of  friendship  between  our  tv/o  coun- 
tries may  always  continue • 


-  20  - 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 
973.7L63GB45A  C001 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  AS  THE  GERMANS  REGARDED 


3  0112  031817593 


A 


